As I have previously noted on this site, several international trade regulatory regimes have become increasingly important for companies and their executives. These regulatory regimes include U.S. sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering (AML), and anti-bribery and corruption laws. Recent developments, such as the War in Ukraine, trade tensions with China, and issues involving digital assets have heightened these concerns. Violations of these regimes can result in regulatory enforcement actions as well as in related civil litigation.

The latest example of a civil action following in the wake of a trade regulation enforcement action is the lawsuit filed earlier this week against data storage company Seagate Technology Holdings plc, after the company was hit with a U.S. Department of Commerce administrative penalty for violation of Export Administration Regulations (EAR) pertaining to the Chinese technology company, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. The recently filed securities suit shows how international trade regulation and enforcement can translate into corporate and securities litigation. A copy of the July 10, 2023, Seagate complaint can be found here.Continue Reading Trade and Export Control Enforcement Leads to Securities Class Action Suit

Michael W. Peregrine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will have many ramifications, some of which may only become apparent over the course of years . For those of us whose job is to worry about the liability exposures of corporate directors and officers, one question has been whether the developments in Ukraine will have legal implications for companies and their executives. Among other concerns for companies and their executives is the sanction regimes that the governments of the U.S., U.K. and other countries have put in place.  In the following guest post, Michael W. Peregrine, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, examines at the corporate governance implications for U.S. companies arising from the sanctions. A version of this article previously was published by Forbes. I would like to thank Michael for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Michael’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: The Globalization of Corporate Governance

Bill Boeck

Ransomware attacks are on the increase, putting the target organizations in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether or not to pay the demanded ransom. As if that were not tough enough, an October 1, 2020 advisory statement by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) warns that companies paying ransoms under these circumstances may risk violating OFAC regulations and could be subject to penalties. In the following guest post, Bill Boeck takes a look at the OFAC advisory and its implications.  Bill is Lockton’s Global Cyber Product and Claims leader and U.S. Financial Lines Claims Practice Leader. A version of this article previously was published as a Lockton client alert. I would like to thank Bill for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Bill’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: OFAC Warns Against Paying Cyber Ransoms to Sanctioned Entities

doj1In one of the more troublesome recent developments for corporate officials who find themselves targeted by government investigations, both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office have made it clear that as part of the settlement of civil fraud actions, the governmental authorities intend to seek both